The Art of Manliness - Manvotionals: Timeless Wisdom and Advice on Living the 7 Manly Virtues by Brett McKay Page A
Authors: Brett McKay
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“What genius!” O yes, it is genius: someone has defined genius as the capacity for hard work. Genius is more than that—much more; but no exaggerated talent would take a man far, without the capacity for hard work; and what you forget, as you listen to the finished art of the master genius, is the days and nights of consecrated toil, foregoing, not only dissipation, but even innocent pleasures others take as their natural right, that the artist might master and keep the mastery of the technique of his art.
It is said of Euclid, formulator of the earliest of the sciences, geometry, that on one occasion he was called in to teach a certain king of Egypt his new science. He began as we begin, with definition, axiom and proposition—we have not improved appreciably upon his text-book; and the king grew restless and indignant: “Must a Pharaoh learn like a common slave?” Euclid, with that pride in knowing one thing well, that everyone ought to have who knows one science thoroughly to the end, responded: “There is no royal road to geometry!” We can universalize the statement: there is no royal road to anything on earth—perhaps in heaven either—worth having, except the one broad, open highway, with no toll-gates upon it, of dead, hard, consistent work through the days and years. Spinoza said—it is the last word in his
Ethic
: “All noble things are as difficult as they are rare;” and we may add, they are rare because they are difficult.
“Be regular and orderly in your daily affairs that you may be violent and original in your work.” —Gustave Flaubert
The Daily Schedules of
Theodore Roosevelt and Benjamin Franklin
In the introduction to this chapter, we detailed how much two great men from history, Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, accomplished during their lives. One of the secrets to their inspiring success was the way in which they effectively utilized their time each day. For a closer examination of just how they did this, here is a look at each man’s daily schedule.
B ENJAMIN F RANKLIN’S D AILY S CHEDULE
Seeking to attain “moral perfection,” Benjamin Franklin established a program in which he strove to live thirteen different virtues. As he particularly struggled with the “precept of Order,” he kept the following schedule inside the little notebook in which he kept track of his adherence to the virtues.
T HEODORE R OOSEVELT’S D AILY S CHEDULE
When campaigning for the vice presidency in 1900, TR spent eight weeks barnstorming around the country. Traveling by train, he covered 21,000 miles visiting twenty-four states. All along the way he made speeches, delivering 700 in all to 3 million people.
His daily schedule during this time was recorded by a man who accompanied him on the tour.
7:00 A.M.—Breakfast.
7:30 A.M.—A speech.
8:00 A.M.—Reading a historical work.
9:00 A.M.—A speech.
10:00 A.M.—Dictating letters.
11:00 A.M.—Discussing Montana mines.
11:30 A.M.—A speech.
12:00 P.M.—Reading an ornithological work.
12:30 P.M.—A speech.
1:00 P.M.—Lunch.
1:30 P.M.—A speech.
2:30 P.M.—Reading Sir Walter Scott.
3:00 P.M.—Answering telegrams.
3:45 P.M.—A speech.
4:00 P.M.—Meeting the press.
4:30 P.M.—Reading.
5:00 P.M.—A speech.
6:00 P.M.—Reading.
7:00 P.M.—Supper.
8:00 to 10:00 P.M.—Speaking.
11:00 P.M.—Reading alone in his car.
12:00 P.M.—To bed.
Theodore Roosevelt’s System of Energizing
F ROM “T HE P OWERS OF A S TRENUOUS P RESIDENT, ” 1908
By “K”
The following excerpt from an article in
The American Magazine
illuminates the way in which Roosevelt’s energy and discipline made this kind of extraordinary productivity possible.
The President is the very incarnation of order and regularity in his work. That is part of his system of energizing. Every morning Secretary Loeb places a typewritten list of his engagements for the day on his desk, sometimes reduced to five-minute intervals. And no
It is said of Euclid, formulator of the earliest of the sciences, geometry, that on one occasion he was called in to teach a certain king of Egypt his new science. He began as we begin, with definition, axiom and proposition—we have not improved appreciably upon his text-book; and the king grew restless and indignant: “Must a Pharaoh learn like a common slave?” Euclid, with that pride in knowing one thing well, that everyone ought to have who knows one science thoroughly to the end, responded: “There is no royal road to geometry!” We can universalize the statement: there is no royal road to anything on earth—perhaps in heaven either—worth having, except the one broad, open highway, with no toll-gates upon it, of dead, hard, consistent work through the days and years. Spinoza said—it is the last word in his
Ethic
: “All noble things are as difficult as they are rare;” and we may add, they are rare because they are difficult.
“Be regular and orderly in your daily affairs that you may be violent and original in your work.” —Gustave Flaubert
The Daily Schedules of
Theodore Roosevelt and Benjamin Franklin
In the introduction to this chapter, we detailed how much two great men from history, Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, accomplished during their lives. One of the secrets to their inspiring success was the way in which they effectively utilized their time each day. For a closer examination of just how they did this, here is a look at each man’s daily schedule.
B ENJAMIN F RANKLIN’S D AILY S CHEDULE
Seeking to attain “moral perfection,” Benjamin Franklin established a program in which he strove to live thirteen different virtues. As he particularly struggled with the “precept of Order,” he kept the following schedule inside the little notebook in which he kept track of his adherence to the virtues.
T HEODORE R OOSEVELT’S D AILY S CHEDULE
When campaigning for the vice presidency in 1900, TR spent eight weeks barnstorming around the country. Traveling by train, he covered 21,000 miles visiting twenty-four states. All along the way he made speeches, delivering 700 in all to 3 million people.
His daily schedule during this time was recorded by a man who accompanied him on the tour.
7:00 A.M.—Breakfast.
7:30 A.M.—A speech.
8:00 A.M.—Reading a historical work.
9:00 A.M.—A speech.
10:00 A.M.—Dictating letters.
11:00 A.M.—Discussing Montana mines.
11:30 A.M.—A speech.
12:00 P.M.—Reading an ornithological work.
12:30 P.M.—A speech.
1:00 P.M.—Lunch.
1:30 P.M.—A speech.
2:30 P.M.—Reading Sir Walter Scott.
3:00 P.M.—Answering telegrams.
3:45 P.M.—A speech.
4:00 P.M.—Meeting the press.
4:30 P.M.—Reading.
5:00 P.M.—A speech.
6:00 P.M.—Reading.
7:00 P.M.—Supper.
8:00 to 10:00 P.M.—Speaking.
11:00 P.M.—Reading alone in his car.
12:00 P.M.—To bed.
Theodore Roosevelt’s System of Energizing
F ROM “T HE P OWERS OF A S TRENUOUS P RESIDENT, ” 1908
By “K”
The following excerpt from an article in
The American Magazine
illuminates the way in which Roosevelt’s energy and discipline made this kind of extraordinary productivity possible.
The President is the very incarnation of order and regularity in his work. That is part of his system of energizing. Every morning Secretary Loeb places a typewritten list of his engagements for the day on his desk, sometimes reduced to five-minute intervals. And no
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